News

Still smarting from the sharp rise in oil prices, as well as the recession, automobile companies are busy developing new business models and retooling their production facilities. At the heart of this effort for many companies is the development of electric cars, along with advanced, new batteries to power them. Recognizing the high stakes involved, a number of governments are supporting advanced battery technology with generous subsidies. In the US, the federal government has announced a $2 billion Advanced Battery Manufacturing Initiative (ABMI), which comes on top of an estimated $10 billion in retooling loans that will be made available to auto companies in the US. Will machine vision companies be able to cash in on efforts to develop and manufacture state-of-the-art electric cars powered by advanced batteries?